HUMANIST GALAXY OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS: MICHAEL CORBALLIS 7-13-22

ALPHABETICAL BRAIN® VOCABULARY
HUMANIST GALAXY
OF SECULAR SCIENCE STARS
MICHAEL CORBALLIS
July 13, 2022

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THE WANDERING MIND:
What the Brain Does
When You're Not Looking
by Michael C. Corballis.
U of Chicago Press, 2015
(i-ix, 173 pages)

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BOOK OUTLINE
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Note = Numbers in parentheses refer to pages

PREFACE (vii-

1) MEANDERING BRAIN, WANDERING MIND (1-

2) MEMORY (13-

3) TIME (35-

4) THE HIPPO IN THE BRAIN (51-

5) WANDERING INTO OTHER MINDS (65-

6) STORIES (85-

7) TIGERS IN THE NIGHT (109-

8) HALLUCINATIONS (127-

9) THE CREATIVITY OF THE WANDERING MIND (145-

REFERENCES (163-

INDEX (171-

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR, SUMMARY,
AND BOOK DESCRIPTION
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR = Michael C. Corballis was born in 1936 in New Zealand. He is a psychologist and author. Corballis earned a Master's degree in Mathematics at the University of New Zealand in 1959 and attained a Master of Arts in psychology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1962. He then moved to McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he gained a PhD in psychology in 1965, and taught in the Department of Psychology from 1968 to 1978. During his years as a professor at McGill, the main focus of his research was in cognitive neuroscience. He was appointed professor of psychology at the University of Auckland in 1978.

Books by Corballis include: Psychology of Left and Right; The Ambivalent Mind — The Neuropsychology of Left and Right; A Very Short Tour of the Mind; The Wandering Mind — What the Brain Does When You're Not Looking [2015]; and The Truth About Language --- What it Is and Where it Came From [2017]. (Paraphrased by webmaster from publisher's blurb)

SUMMARY = The book mounts a vigorous defense of inattention even as it never fails to hold our attention. It is full of unusual examples and surprising discoveries, such as the fact that during as much as 50% of our waking hours, we fail to focus on the task at hand? Is this situation a problem?

BOOK DESCRIPTION = Drawing on the latest research from cognitive science and evolutionary biology, Michael Corballis believes that mind-wandering strengthens our imagination, fuels flights of invention, and improves storytelling and empathy, two primary values which underlie our shared humanity. Furthermore, he explains, that our tendency to wander back and forth through the timeline of our lives is fundamental to our very sense of ourselves as coherent, continuing personalities.

Corballis shows how "mind-wandering" not only frees us from moment-to-moment drudgery, but also from the limitations of our immediate selves. He says, "If I have done my job well... you will read to the end of this description. Most likely, however, you will not! Somewhere in the middle of the next paragraph, your mind will wander off. Minds wander. That is just how it is... That may be bad news for me... but is it bad news for people in general?" Corballis does not think so. In his new book, he shows why rehabilitating woolgathering can have incredibly useful effects. (Paraphrased by webmaster from publisher's blurb)

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EDITORIAL BOOK REVIEWS
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LIBRARY JOURNAL = This month, many Americans will take time off from work, school, taking care of their kids, and driving. These breaks may be short or long, welcome or uninvited, and create opportunities to consider possible futures, mull over past failures, innovate, and speculate. These unplanned vacations occur when our minds wander. While other researchers and authors focus on the bad news associated with inattention, Corballis (emeritus, psychology, Univ. of Auckland, New Zealand) has written an ode to mind wandering.

While his essays stray a bit and it is not always obvious how the topic at hand relates to the meandering mind, the author eventually brings his narrative back to the point. His various entertaining pieces can be enjoyed separately, but it is best to read them in order because they cross-reference one another. VERDICT This brief book will be of interest to readers wishing to consider a wide variety of brain research in a single volume.-Beth Dalton, Littleton, CO.

PW ANNEX REVIEWS = University of Auckland professor emeritus of psychology Michael Corballis (A Very Short Tour of the Mind) tackles an unusual and ephemeral subject in this study of what he calls "mind-wandering," stating that "for at least half of our lives, our minds are wandering away from the chores of life." Touching on daydreaming (where he invokes the classic "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"), remembering ("mind-wandering into the past"), and subconsciously planning for the future, Corballis suggests that the brain is designed for unfocused functionality.

His topics can seem like a random grab bag of mental traits. Thinking about the past and imagining the future, for instance, are described as a form of time travel. Storytelling, meanwhile, emerges as a way to share mind-wanderings. Psychic powers, if they exist, would be evidence of wandering minds connecting. Corballis also addresses dreams and hallucinations and how they fit into the functioning of healthy and unhealthy minds. The subject matter is fascinating, but the exploration, though often engaging, meanders; Corballis acknowledges that "I have occasionally allowed myself to wander a bit, but the topic itself seems to permit this." March 15, 2015.

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